by what basis can someone with an ounce of intellectual honesty make (or believe) such a specious argument? like tax policies in the 1950s were responsible for the growth or the fact that the US was the only major developed economy that wasn't destroyed by the war? its the worst sort of demagoguery...

It impresses me that he is willing to say that we will need a popular revolt to rectify this, which I have long suspected is true. Of course, no one wants to hear that they are going to have to take to the streets to preserve the hopes and the future of themselves and their children against a rapac...

The performance strikes me as properly played, but unremarkable. That sums up my view on Bernstein completely... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Haters gonna hate Bernstein performances can be interesting when he goes over the top, like his DG recordings of the Tchaikovsky 6th or Sibelius 2nd, or som...

Let me ask you. Do you understand what this graph below is depicting? http://www.palisad.com/co2/gf/st_ca.png Maybe I didn't explain it well enough. The x axis is the surface temperature in degrees K and the y axis is the cloud covered percentage of each individual measurement's sample section. For...

Here is the backstory. This is an encore of the finale to Haydn's Symphony No. 88 with the Vienna Philharmonic. That explains everything to me. Bernstein is an 'eyebrow' raising maestro, as he lets his hair down and just enjoys the great music. :mrgreen: What a perfect performance and it is so lovi...

living_stradivarius wrote:From a scientific perspective I will be always consider competing theories. As of right now, there isn't a clear refutation of Lindzen's theory, but scientists can and should discuss this outside the political arena.

Beyond Outrage Robert Reich I normally don't read political books, but I saw this one available as a Kindle edition for only $3 and decided to get it. Despite the title, it is a reasoned argument, which tries to show that our current economic stagnation is a result of more and more wealth being accu...

The problem is that you don't understand the things that you are purporting to explain, and you don't understand any of the criticisms that are made of your explanations. It's awfully hard to understand criticisms that you don't lay out. You are evaluating descriptions of scientific work without un...

There is no discussion here. At times I find myself tempted to point out errors in your 'scientific' statements, but in the end I find it impossible because they are not sufficiently defined to even say what is wrong with them. Try me. Ask a question. Maybe I haven't explained some things accuratel...

BTW, instead of throwing insults, why don't you participate in the discussion? Do you think any of the points I've raised are legitimate? If not, let's hear why. There is no discussion here. At times I find myself tempted to point out errors in your 'scientific' statements, but in the end I find it...

First of all, this is not an accurate characterization. Myself and other skeptics/deniers do not feel that clouds will 'save us'. Our position is more we think that the effects and/or feedbacks of water vapor and clouds cannot be arbitrarily separated from one another and net positive feedback from...

The Met HD performances have been a totally marvelous revelation for me. The sound is superb, the closeups are amazing, the backstage activities are an amazing insight into the makings of an opera otherwise unknown, the interviews are mostly enjoyable..on and on. By the way, these HD showings have ...

[In general, and not just in that article but in the climate debate in general, the way the issue of clouds is framed has substantial logical flaws and gaps in it. It certainly does, but not the way you mean. It is contrarian scientists like Lindzen who are defying reason in exploiting an area of u...

Computer based learning may have great potential, but I would considered an advanced, interactive form of a textbook, rather than a substitute for a University education. People have always been able to teach themselves by studying books, and now perhaps computers are more widely available than book...

Garrett, now you see why Lenny was one of the greatest of all conductors. As a music lover who has seen the great one conduct in person on many occcasions, this video is priceless. Notice how the orchestra plays Haydn with such great relish and beauty, that Maestro B. has only to look at them and t...

And what were they supposed to do to keep the wife, who was not in the Embassy, from being beaten? Should the US ambassador have sent the Marine guards at the embassy out to fight the entire Chinese Peoples Army to wend its way to Chen's quarters, rescue the wife, and bring her safely back to the E...

Could anything be more absurd. The human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest, arrives in the US embassy (apparently after a dramatic car chase), and is subsequently turned over to Chinese police by US authorities, saying that he had "changed his mind" after assurances were given th...

Could anything be more absurd. The human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest, arrives in the US embassy (apparently after a dramatic car chase), and is subsequently turned over to Chinese police by US authorities, saying that he had "changed his mind" after assurances were given tha...

I know someone who worked at Polygram and recovered a few choice items from the trash when the cretins who worked there were clearing out some file cabinets. One is a 4x5 Kodachrome transparency of Herbert von Karajan. It's the actual film that was in the camera when they took the photo. Very elegan...

... the keyboard music of such as JS Bach and D Scarlatti sounds so harsh and jarring to my ears when played on the piano: the harpsichord is a STRING instrument, which explains why music written for it sounds so wonderful when played on the guitar and the lute; the piano is a PERCUSSION instrument...

That $5,000 wedding involved hiring wedding staff, planners, and tailors to make dog clothes. If anything, these folks are OVERPAYING people who are less wealthy for something incredibly mundane - it's almost as if they were giving money away! Seems like a pretty good deal for those who bothered to...

I don't think "the rich" should be punished. But I don't see why the rich should not have to pay the same fraction of their income in taxes as a typical middle-class taxpayer. I think the dramatic revisions of the tax codes that made investment income subject to a lower tax rate should be reversed. ...

I never do "comparisons" but sometimes it is fun to listen to a piece in two wildly different interpretations. First I listened to Bach's first Viola da gamba sonata by Harnoncourt and Tachezi. Then the same piece by Maisky and Argerich ('transcribed' for cello and piano). Both were superb. I find B...

Oh dear, I find myself with a second Complete Bach Edition. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ImfdYYIvL._SL500_AA300_.jpg The Hanssler edition is already on the shelves. If I had to pick one, it would be the Teldec set, but they complement each other well. Original instruments vs modern instru...

Fortepianos to cars! I love it ... nice transition. Love the cars ... the dollies are nice, too! I have a lot of admiration for Andreas Staier and have some of his recordings. One of the most interesting is of him as a harpsichordist in Spanish fandangos (particularly one with castanets ... what an...

This is just pure crap, I don't know whether the professor is lying or just an idiot. Borrowing against non-income producing assets is very expensive and risky (you end up paying interest on interest and your loan may get called at the worst time). The interest costs can easily outweigh any savings...

Many agree that we need a simple tax code, but they don't agree on what it should be. For example, if you eliminate the charitable deduction, that could have a devastating effect on philanthropy and those dependent on it - private colleges, schools, hospitals, museums, orchestras, you name it. In a...

Although I sympathize with the motivation, I think the last thing the tax code needs is another Gimmick. This Buffet rule sounds like a new version of the alternate minimum tax. What we need is a simple tax code. Income is income, no matter where it comes from. The first X dollars are tax free, mayb...

That piano you posted may look great, but it sounds like a barroom piano in need of tuning. :mrgreen: Mozart and Beethoven used such instruments because they had to - it's all there were. We don't have that handicap, or that excuse. This is what happens when one is a Johnny-come-lately to a thread ...

I don't know about you, but despite the poor sound of the off-the-air recording, for me this is just overwhelming, the screaming dissonances of the introduction followed by a glimpse of the sorrows of the world, in a symphony generally felt to be light-hearted. And again at the retransition from th...

You can't really find such a widely shared opinion "astonishing," so I assume that's a rhetorical flourish. Anyway, you speak for yourself, I speak for myself. I don't find it astonishing that you would express this opinion, because it is a widely espoused canard. It is precisely that you will hear...

That piano you posted may look great, but it sounds like a barroom piano in need of tuning. :mrgreen: Mozart and Beethoven used such instruments because they had to - it's all there were. We don't have that handicap, or that excuse. I must have missed something because I have never read of Mozart o...

I've collected Brautigam's recordings of the Beethoven Piano sonatas, made using reproductions of Fortepianos from Beethoven's era. While I have no intention of forsaking my favorite recordings made using modern instruments, they old-style instruments bring a transparency and urgency to the music th...

"Purists" in what way? HIP purists who disdain Steinways in older music or those who disdain obsolete pianos in present-day performances? (I guess that gives away which side I'm on. :mrgreen:) ... In a time when charismatic classical musicians are in short supply, and the central repertoire of the ...

VERY possible. The music industry is blighted by customer rip-off. This should go on the illegal download thread where this issue was spoken of. The Japs are the worst: pop music, bringing out endless limited editions in slightly different formats so that completeness collectors are bled for an eno...

I've found that story online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2010/nov/17/musicians-uk-border-agency-rules http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/classicalmusic/2010/11/bso_cellist_denied_entry_to_uk.html String quartets and orchestras travel to the UK and perform there all th...

Listened to the first disc yesterday and today. It contains the Preludes Volume 1, Images set 1 and set 2. Very nice clear sound and beautiful play. For 13 cdn dollar, I think that this box set is a bargain. Matt. When was the set recorded? I have Crossley's recordings of Janacek on Decca, and they...

What's you point? Banks with billions of dollars in assets should be allowed to compete with payday lenders in swindling hapless poor people? so damn the unintended consequences of making ourselves feel morally superior by punishing the banks? low income people need access credit as much as anyone ...

all the new regulations and focus on banks over the last few years have been a bonanza for the pawn shop and payday lending industries What's you point? Banks with billions of dollars in assets should be allowed to compete with payday lenders in swindling hapless poor people? In the old days big ba...

It works both ways. I remember reading an article in the Times describing problems for performers getting into the UK. The Carpe Diem quartet was was traveling to the UK to play music by Taneyev at a chamber music festival. The cellist was stopped at passport control and denied entry because the org...

I simply looked at Wikipedia's article on the pharmaceutical/medical technology industry and added up the research budgets of the 5 biggest players (3 of which are European). Whether an exhaustive tabulation would confirm this trend, I don't know. The first commercial CAT scanner was made by EMI, th...